


Tiny Dancer

by a_windsor



Series: Thing!verse [20]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 13:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2813165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_windsor/pseuds/a_windsor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They have a plan for four.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Marisol Garcia fidgets nervously, waiting for Dr. Montgomery to enter the exam room for her appointment. She’s five months pregnant with the son of that cabrón, Washington Rivera, who had laughed cruelly and challenged her to “Próbelo” [Prove it] when she told him she was carrying his baby. Shame-filled and irate, she’d briefly but seriously considered abortion.

  
    Poor choice in men aside, she is a good kid. Or she was, at least. She got good grades (but not too good, no need to draw attention) and kept her head down and out of trouble. She’d babysat for enough of her skanky cousins’ babies that she knew she was never going to be that girl. Until she is.

  
Abortion seems attractive, but the Sundays her abuela dragged her to mass as a kid seem to have stuck her with some good old Catholic guilt, just the tiniest bit, and the idea of going through with it made her sick. She’d made the appointment twice, but chickened out both times.

  
Her math teacher just had a baby, and she noticed the signs. She’d sweetly, but discreetly, set her up pro bono with her own OB. The appointments are in one of those crazy, rich white people, feng shui, faux-Zen Buddhist buildings, but Dr. Montgomery is nice enough and puts her at ease.

  
Once Marisol has decided not to terminate the pregnancy, she commits to it 110-percent, the way she has with everything in her life, from ballet lessons when she was six (until they got too expensive) to loving Washington Rivera when she was sixteen (until she realized what a prick he was). She eats as best she can, takes all the vitamins Dr. Montgomery gives her, and tries to talk to her son as much as possible. She’s heard that’ll help make him smart; she wants to give him every advantage she can.

  
Which leads her to the decision she’s reached since she last saw Dr. Montgomery. She got herself into this mess, she knows, but she’s not ready to be a mom, and she doesn’t want to be one. She wants to go to college and become a pharmacist. Or at least a pharm tech. She wants to meet a man that will love her for real, and maybe one day have kids of her own. She loves the little parasite inside of her, and she never wants to resent him for keeping her from all of that.

  
“Sorry, nene. I think it’s for the best. We’ll get you a mami y papi that’ll want you and love you. And buy you expensive presents. Send you to good schools and let you, I don’t know, play soccer and be, an astronaut. You’ll be better off. Don’t need me dragging you down.”

  
Dr. Montgomery comes in, all smiles and cold gel, and nods knowingly as she explains her decision.

  
“He should have two parents and a house. And a yard to run in. And maybe a brother? Or a sister? I don’t know. So he’s not lonely. Anyway, do you have the names of some, like, agencies? Only got four months before he’s ready to pop out.”

  
Dr. Montgomery laughs. “I do. I have lots of contacts for you. If you’re sure.”

  
“I am.”

  
“It sounds like you are. You make a very well-thought out argument. And I actually think I might have the perfect family for you.”

  
“Yeah?”

  
“Yeah,” Dr. Montgomery nods, thoughtful. “No pressure, of course. One question, though, and this is one you’ll have to talk about with the agency anyway, but how do you feel about same-sex couples?”  
Marisol purses her lips, then shrugs.

  
“You mean gay? Like, two dads?”

  
“Moms, in this case.”

  
“Sure. If they’re nice.”

  
Dr. Montgomery smiles and rummages around in her purse on the counter, producing a slightly bent Christmas card. She straightens it out tenderly before handing it over.  
The picture on the front is straight off TV, like a freaking commercial, and it sums up everything she’s ever wanted for her baby.

  
There are three kids, two girls and a boy. They’re decked out in red and green pajamas, spooned in size order like nesting dolls, the boy holding the smaller girls protectively. They sleep, utterly peacefully, against stark white sheets. The boy’s hair is short and dark, and the hand that reaches across the waists of his sisters is lightly tanned. Tucked into his chest, just a couple years younger, is a pale little blonde whose curls spill, unruly, around her. Tucked into her is a pudgy toddler with dark hair in twin messy pigtails, holding a blanket tight and sucking peacefully on a pacifier.

  
“Silent night,” is all the front says. Marisol flips it over. “Happy holidays, y felices fiestas, from the Robbins-Torres family.”

  
On the back there’s another, more common family portrait of the three kids and their moms laughing at the camera on a windswept beach, the kids perched on a railing while a blonde and a brunette (Latina, judging by the last name), stand behind them, the blonde’s arms spotting the less steady toddler.

  
Underneath the picture, it says, “Lots of love to you and yours - Caroline, Lena, Asa, Callie, and Arizona.”

  
“They just started the adoption process a few months ago. Callie had trouble having Caroline, the littlest girl, but they really want another baby to make their family complete. Asa, he’s eight; he’s requested a boy. They’re an amazing family, with more love to give than any other I know. It’s early, but... It’s an option.”  
  
***  
  
Marisol goes with Dr. Montgomery to her office while she finds the numbers to give her. She sees a few more pictures of the Robbins-Torres family and Dr. Montgomery with them, including one of Dr. Montgomery in a pretty dress with the two moms and the baby in a christening gown. Dr. Montgomery notices her gaze.

  
“I’m Asa’s godmother,” she supplies helpfully. “Callie and I worked together in Seattle. She’s an orthopedic surgeon. Arizona’s a pediatric surgeon.”

  
“Like kids?”

  
“Yep.”

  
“So they’re real smart?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“And real rich.”

  
“Yeah,” Addison laughs. “They do well. They have a big house, nice yard. The kids are all bilingual. I don’t know how important that is to you.”

  
“It’s pretty cool,” Marisol acknowledges, hand dropping to her stomach.

  
“Just. Talk to the social worker at the agency. Talk to your family. Think about it. You have lots of options. This is just one.”

  
Marisol looks down at the picture in her hand and reluctantly places it on Dr. Montgomery’s desk.  
“Okay.”  
  
***  
  
“Oof, Momma’s phone’s ringing. Excuse me a second, munchkins,” Arizona extracts herself from the pj-wrestling match on Momma and Mami’s bed, tossing Asa over her shoulder and reaching for her cell phone as Asa lands on his face with a gentle thud and the three kids giggle uncontrollably.

  
“Hello?”

  
“Arizona?”

  
“Addison, hi. Hold on a sec. Munchkins, shush. Aunt Addy’s on the phone.”

  
Asa and Lena stop their wrestling, releasing each other from headlocks. Caroline continues to bounce excitedly.

  
“I wanna talk to her.”

  
“No, I wanna talk to her!”

  
“You’ll both get to talk to her, after I’m done.”

  
“Sounds like things are fun there,” Addison laughs. “I tried Cal, but she must be in surgery.”

  
“Yeah, she’s got back to back hip and knee replacements all day.”

  
“And you’ve got all the kids?”

  
“Yep! We’re going for a Christmas tree this afternoon.”

  
“I have something I want to talk about with you two. Can you call me when Callie gets home?”

  
“Sure. Is everything okay?” Arizona asks, lifting Caroline onto her hip with her free arm.

  
“It’s good, I promise. Did I hear that Asa and Lena want to speak with me?”

  
“They do. Here’s Lena.”

  
“Hi, Aunt Addy!” Lena gushes into the phone. “We’re getting’ a Christmas tree because it’s the Saturday after my birthday!”

  
“It is? What are you, sixteen, now?”

  
“You talked to me on my birthday. You know I’m six.”

  
“Oh, six. That’s right. How was school this week?”

  
“Good.”

  
“Good? What did you learn about?”

  
“Dinosaurs.”

  
“Oh, cool.”

  
“Asa wants to talk to you,” Lena informs. “Bye, love you.”

  
“Love you, too, Len’.”

  
“Hi, Aunt Addy!”

  
“Hey, Asa. Are you looking out for your sisters for me?”

  
“Yes, ma’am.”

  
“Good. Hey, have you thought of what you want for Christmas yet?”

  
“Oh yeah! I want...”  
  
***  
  
“Honey, I’m home!” Callie calls as she drops her keys on the kitchen counter. She grins when she sees the mammoth tree sitting bare in the living room, but Mrs. Claus and the elves are nowhere in sight.

  
“Hey-lo, honey,” a tiny voice calls back as little feet patter down the hallway from the playroom. Caroline rounds the corner and flashes a bright smile. Callie leans down and scoops her up.

  
“Hola, m’ija. ¿Cómo te va?”

  
“Bien, Mami. ¿Y tú?” Cari asks by rote.

  
“Muy bien. ¿Dónde están Momma y los hermanos?” [Where are Momma and your brother and sister?]

  
“Play room,” the nearly three-year-old answers.

  
“Oh yeah? ¿Qué hacen?” [What are they doing?]

  
“They playing.”

  
“I would never guess.”

  
The sarcasm is lost on the toddler, who looks quizzically at her and then changes the subject:

  
“We got a tree!”

  
“I know! Es muy grande. How’d you get it home?”

  
Caroline shrugs as Callie carries her back towards the playroom. The girl squirms.

  
“Caminar, por favor. Quiero caminar.” [Walk, please. I wanna walk.]

  
“Oh my goodness, because you asked so nicely,” Callie teases as she sets the most fiercely independent of her three kids back on the ground.

  
Caroline leads the way into the playroom, where Arizona, Lena, and Asa are all laid out on their tummies, staring intently at three block towers of varying heights climbing in front of them.

  
“Gotta be quiet,” Caroline stage-whispers, “It’s a contest.”

  
Callie grins. She has the most perfect little family; it takes her breath away.

  
“Hello, goofs,” she greets.

  
“Shh, Mami, please,” Asa groans. “I’m winning.”

  
Arizona leans over to playfully swat his rump. “Be nice.”

  
“Ah, Momma, careful!”

  
Lena giggles at her brother’s exasperation. Her tower is the lowest, but she is slowly, methodically constructing it from a wide base, never taking her eyes from the task at hand even as she’s amused by her momma’s and brother’s antics. God, she makes even Arizona look lazy and unfocused.

  
“Okay then... Since no one is actually that excited to see me, I’ll just go start slaving away on dinner after spending the whole day fixing bones.”

  
“I’m excited to see you,” Arizona super-magic smiles. “And pizza’s on the way, ‘cause it’s Saturday. So quite whining and bring us some more blocks. I’m trying to kick your children’s butts. Oh, and Addison would like us to call when we get a sec.”

  
“Momma’s bossy today, huh?”

  
“Yup,” Lena says, smothering a teasing grin as she places another block perfectly.

  
Asa is more ambitious and impatient than his sister, going for as high as possible as quickly as possible. Callie lowers herself to the ground and pulls Caroline into her lap.

  
“I am not bossy,” Arizona complains with a little pout, eyebrows drawn together in concentration.

  
Caroline’s little fingers play idly with the heart necklace at Callie’s neck as Callie puts a kiss to her temple.

  
“That’s a big tree. How did you get it in?”

  
“Momma’s got skills,” Arizona gloats, blue eyes dancing with merriment.

  
“She paid the tree dudes to bring it in,” Asa tattles.

  
“Asa!”

  
“I assumed as much,” Callie says.

  
Asa’s tower quivers as he adds another block, then it topples to the ground with a loud, chaotic crash. He groans loudly, dropping flat on his face into the carpet. Cari giggles.

  
“One down, one to go,” Arizona nudges her mini-me.

  
“I’m gonna win,” Lena says calmly, barely looking at her brother’s misfortune as she constructs another level.

  
Asa dejectedly pushes his blocks towards his momma and sister, then picks himself up and goes to join Callie and Caroline, slumping next to them.

  
Putting an arm around him warmly, Callie consoles, “It’s alright, Ace. They’re a force to be reckoned with.”  
  
***  


tbc


	2. Chapter 2

Since it’s Saturday, pizza is accompanied by a movie after the kids change into their pjs. It’s Beauty and the Beast for the ten thousandth time, but Callie still just barely pulls Arizona away from it to call Addison on speakerphone while the kids are curled up in the living room.

  
“You wanted to talk to us, Addy?” Callie asks, pulling the stool over so that she can put an arm around Arizona’s waist. Arizona’s cell phone sits on the breakfast bar. “Is everything okay?”

  
“Everything’s great. Wonderful, in fact.”

  
“Wonderful?” Arizona questions.

  
“That means awesome in grown-up speak, baby.”

  
Arizona pokes Callie in the ribs for her impertinence. Addison laughs.

  
“I think I found you a birth mom,” she announces.

  
Callie and Arizona freeze mid-poke war.

  
“Now there are a lot of details to work out, a lot of paperwork and meetings, and screenings, but I have the inside scoop, and right now, you’re her first choice.” A pause. “Are you guys still there?”

  
“Yep. Just, processing,” Callie says slowly.

  
“Her name is Marisol Garcia. She’s sixteen, Dominican-American. From right here in LA; she’s actually a patient of mine. She’s due to deliver a so far very healthy baby boy in April."

  
“Wow,” Callie breathes out.

  
“I don’t know what to say,” Arizona starts.

  
“Just say you’ll talk to her. She’s a great kid, and I think she’d be a good match for your guys. Nothing too serious. Talk about it, then call me back, and I’ll get you in touch with her social worker.”

  
“Yeah, okay,” Arizona sighs, squeezing Callie’s hand.

  
“Did you get a good Christmas tree?”

  
“Asa and Cari picked out the biggest one on the lot,” Arizona says brightly, trying to distract Callie from the conflicted look spreading across her face.

  
“And Lena?”

  
“She wanted the most Charlie Brown tree I’ve even seen. That big old heart of hers has a soft spot for strays.”

  
“You didn’t get it?”

  
“Of course I did. I put it in her room and told her she had to take care of it.”

  
Addison laughs. “Okay. Sam’s looking at me like he’ll kill me if I don’t get off the phone and eat the yummy dinner he made. Promise me you’ll think about what I said.”

  
“We will,” Callie speaks up, scooping up the phone. “Talk to you soon. Enjoy dinner, and say hi to Sam for us.”

  
“Will do. Bye!”

  
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Arizona says softly, running her fingers up and down Calliope’s spine.

  
“It’s just... A lot to process.”

  
“Oh, Momma, look! It’s Gaston!” Lena interrupts.

  
“They want you. Go. Get some snuggles and watch your movie.”

  
“You, too,” Arizona insists. “They’ve missed you. Think you can stand ‘Be Our Guest’ for the umpteenth time if you can get some cuddling out of it?”

  
“Yeah, I think I can manage,” Callie forces a smile as Arizona kisses her cheek.

  
“And then we’ll talk. About everything. Once we’ve bundled the munchkins off to bed.”

  
Callie nods and takes a deep breath, pushing off of the barstool.

  
Arizona immediately plops down next to Lena and puts an arm around her slim shoulders.

  
“Ooh, Gaston. What a jerk.”

  
Callie sits between Asa and Caroline. Asa immediately stretches his legs across her lap and passes her a little half-smile before turning his attention back to the movie. Cari keeps her distance, holding tight to her green blankie, sleepy eyes trained on the screen. She’s already so grown up; she’ll be three in February, and she just hates being treated like a baby. She wants to walk and talk on her own, and do everything else just like her brother and sister can.

  
Callie’s hands idly stroke Asa’s knobby knees as she longs for the days when he was a tiny infant who did nothing but lie sweetly in her arms or take naps cuddled close to Arizona’s chest. (The latter he’s still been known to do, occasionally, though he’d never admit it.) She wants that, just one more time, just one more little newborn that screams all night, the brother poor hopelessly outnumbered Asa has been begging for. But she can’t get her hopes up. Nothing’s official until they’re chosen and the delivery is complication-free and a baby boy is laying in the empty bedroom upstairs.  
  
***  
  
“Mami, yo gané. Quiero un cuento más. That was the deal.” [Mami, I won. I want one more story.]

  
“You made that deal with your momma. Take it up with her.”

  
“Well, mándala aquí. Quiero uno más.” [Send her here. I want one more.]

  
“You’re a bossy little thing, just like she is,” Callie plants a kiss on Lena’s proffered lips.

  
“Sí. Soy Momma.” [Yes, I’m Momma.]

  
“Te quiero, mi alma.”

  
“No, no. I’m Abuelito’s alma. Su alma cubana.” [His Cuban soul.]

  
Callie laughs. “Oh-kay. I won’t take your abuelito’s nickname. I promise.”

  
“Okay, good. Te quiero también, Mami.”

  
“I’ll send your momma in.”

  
“Gracias.”

  
Callie walks through the jack-and-jill bathroom to check on Caroline, who is still snoozing away in her toddler bed. Back on the other side, she can hear Lena greet Arizona.

  
“Momma, I need my Momma snuggles and my extra story. Lots of Momma snuggles.”

  
Arizona laughs. “I’ll see what I can do, Lena Rose.”

  
Having already kissed Asa goodnight, Callie makes her way back towards their bedroom, starting to get ready for bed. Arizona comes down several minutes later, covering a yawn with her hand.

  
“Finally got away from her, huh?” Callie asks warmly, spitting into the sink. “I’d be jealous if I thought you had a thing for blondes.”

  
“No, that’s you.”

  
“True. I have a weakness for them.”

  
Callie replaces her toothbrush and heads to bed. Arizona takes her time washing up and then appears in the doorway, hands on her hips.

  
“This is good news, right? I mean, cautiously optimistic, good news, but you still wanna do this, right? Because I still do, but I stand by what I said. Four is just a number, and I love our family the way it is.”

  
“No, no. It is. Good news. Cautiously optimistic good news. I promise.”

  
“Then what’s with the face?” Arizona asks, crawling into her side of the bed.

  
Callie laughs a little. “What’s wrong with my face?”

  
“It’s frowny.”

  
Callie sighs and takes her into her arms, soothed as Arizona’s head settles onto her shoulder.

  
“I’m just... nervous. About everything. About finding the right match. About, doing it differently this time. Will I still love him the same? Even though I never felt him inside of me?”

  
“Of course you will.”

  
Of course you say that, Callie refrains from biting back, but Arizona knows she’s thinking it.

  
“You will. It’s just... scarier, I’d imagine. You feel out of control, separated from everything. But none of it matters once the baby’s here, none of it. When you have the baby in your arms... everything falls into place.”

  
Callie’s never heard her articulate it like this, what the births of their children felt like for her.

  
“Is that why you’re such a baby hog for the first forty-eight hours?”

  
Arizona drops a grinning kiss onto Callie’s shoulder.

  
“Yep. Have to make up for forty weeks of bonding.”

  
“Is he gonna feel left out? Because he’s adopted and his brother and sisters aren’t?”

  
“Not if we don’t let him,” Arizona says resolutely.

  
“And you’re sure you wanna do this, Miss Control Freak? I mean, we have no control over that baby until we have him with us. No assurance the birth mom won’t change her mind. Or that she’s eating the right things or avoiding the right things.”

  
Arizona makes a face, contemplating her wife’s words.

  
“It’ll be hard, but, yes. If you’re sure, I’m sure. If not this specific baby and mother, then whatever one we’re supposed to add to our family. I’m ready.”

  
Callie’s hands trail down to Arizona’s hips, rolling a little and pulling her wife on top of her. Their noses brush gently, and Callie closes her eyes, enjoying the familiar, protected feeling of their bodies pressed together.

  
“I still don’t understand how you always know the right thing to say,” she says softly, lips against the corner of Arizona’s mouth.

  
“It’s a gift,” Arizona sighs. “Calliope, you have enough love in your heart for a thousand kids. You will be just as amazing of a mom to Baby #4 as you are for the rest of our awesome kids.”

  
Callie threads her fingers in Arizona’s silky hair and pulls her in for a kiss. Arizona has become especially adept at talking down her crazy since Caroline’s birth.

  
There’s a tell-tale click of their bedroom door being opened by small hands. Arizona lets out a breathy laugh and doesn’t even have to look before saying:

  
“Hi, Lena-bug.”

  
Arizona rolls off of Callie as Lena runs over to bed.

  
“We just put you into bed, m’ija,” Callie admonishes lightly as Arizona lifts the covers and their frequent escapee clambers into bed.

  
“Can’t sleep,” the newly six year old says extra-sweetly, curling into Callie’s side. “Can’t turn my brain off. Momma y tú me ayudan dormir y me calman los sueños.” [You and Momma help me sleep and calm my dreams.]

  
Callie drops a kiss onto the top of Lena’s head. She knows her little charmer is totally milking her with cuteness, but she falls victim every time. Lena’s charm should be a registered weapon.

  
“Lena, you really should sleep in your own bed,” Arizona complains, even as she succumbs to their daughter’s sleepy, dimpled smile. She brushes a blonde curl behind Lena’s ear and snuggles in with the two of them.

  
“I know, Momma. Tomorrow night, I promise,” Lena sighs as she presses her head into the pillow and tucks her little butt into her Mami’s tummy, fingers of one hand tangling into the front of her Momma’s pajama top.

  
“Mm, another night in bed with two cute blondes. I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”  
  
***  
  
“There he is! He looks good, Marisol,” Dr. Montgomery says warmly.

  
“You’re gonna send it to Callie and Arizona, right?” Marisol asks, shifting on the uncomfortable hospital bed while the steady heartbeat of her unborn son, - no, their unborn son – pulses through the room.

  
“Of course.”

  
“Good. We have a Skype call tonight. Asa’s been asking for pictures.”

  
“You guys’ve really hit it off, huh?”

  
“His brother and sisters like to talk to him, and his moms want to check in. Arizona is reading him Harry Potter, ‘cause she read it to the others before they were born. You’re, uh, sure he’s healthy right? I don’t wanna give them a defective baby.”

  
“Everything is going well. You’re still taking your vitamins, right?”

  
Marisol nods. “And I’m walking at least thirty minutes, every day.”

  
“Then you’re doing everything right.”

  
“You’re going to deliver him, Dr. Montgomery, yeah? Callie said you deliver Robbins-Torres babies, and I... He’s gonna be different enough, a little black boy with a blonde big sister, but I want him to be as much like them as he can.”

  
Marisol’s hand drops to her seven-months pregnant belly as Addison looks her over appraising.

  
“Definitely. Marisol, how are you doing? With all of this, I mean. It’s a difficult thing, and you made your decision pretty quickly.”

  
“You don’t think Arizona and Callie are the right choice?”

  
“No, of course I do. It’s just... They’re my friends, and I want to make sure you’re comfortable when it comes time for this baby to be born. Because they’re investing a lot. Their kids are investing a lot in this, and it will destroy them if you’re not sure. If this baby comes and you can’t hand him over.”

  
Marisol’s brow wrinkles.

  
“I want him to have the best. And they’re the best. I really don’t want a baby.”

  
“Have you decided what sort of contact you’d like after the baby is born? I know they said they’d be open to you seeing him a little.”

  
“We’re still talking about it. I dunno how much I’m gonna wanna see him. It’ll be weird.”

  
“I think as long as you’re all clear about expectations and boundaries, whatever you decide will be best for both you and the baby.”

  
Marisol nods.   
“Kinda funny that after twelve weeks or so, you’ll be a bigger part of his life than I am.”

  
“I hadn’t even thought of that,” Dr. Montgomery smiles, eyes returning to the ultrasound picture with extra warmth. “Okay. We’re all done here. I’ll email this to you and Cal, and I’ll see you in four weeks. You have my number if you need me, right? Even just to talk. And you’re my patient, so I won’t tell anyone about what we talk about. Not even Callie and Arizona.”  
  
***  
  
“So, how did you meet?”

  
“Oh, I don’t think he’s ready for the story of how Momma kissed Mami in a dirty bar bathroom within five minutes of introducing herself.”

  
“It was much sweeter than you make it seem. It sounds tawdry when you say it like that.”

  
“Momma, what’s tawdry mean?”

  
Callie and Arizona laugh, and Arizona hauls Lena into her lap.

  
“Lena, say hi to Marisol.”

  
“Hola. ¿Cómo está mi hermanito?”

  
“Está bien. Tu mami tiene un video para ustedes. ¿Cómo estás tú?” [He’s good. Your mami has a video for y’all. How are you?]

  
“Bien. Ha crecido mi hermanita, ¿no? Su cumple es mañana.” [Good. My sister’s grown, hasn’t she? Her birthday is tomorrow.]

  
“Gonna be tres,” Caroline chimes from Callie’s lap, holding up three fingers.

  
“You are bigger,” Marisol tells the girl warmly. “Where’s your brother?”

  
“Play date,” Arizona answers. “He left a note for Lena to read to the baby.”

  
“Okay, I think he’s ready...”

  
“’Hola, hermanito,’” the kindergartner begins. “Sorry I... missed our t...talking time. Next... week I’ll tell you about my basketball game. Love, Asa.”

  
“Lena, lees muy bien.” [Lena, you read very well.]

  
“Gracias.”

  
“Nice work, m’ija. How about you take Cari to the playroom, okay?”

  
    “Sí, Mami. Bye, Marisol!”

  
“Bye-bye,” Caroline echoes.

  
“Ciao, niñas.”

  
Arizona’s pager blares as the girls disappear from view.

  
“Shoot. 911 on my transplant kid. Sorry, Marisol. See you next week.”

  
“Bye Arizona. Suerte.”

  
Arizona kisses Callie’s cheek and hurries towards the door.

  
There’s an awkward pause as the two women are left with little to discuss. Callie realizes that Arizona and the kids have been dominating these interactions all along.

  
“Pues, ¿de dónde es tu familia?” Marisol finally asks. [Well, where is your family from?]

  
“Miami, now. Havana originally. My parents were born there, and their families moved to Miami when they were kids, after the revolution. What about you?”

  
“La Victoria, D.R. My abuelos all immigrated here. My mami was born in New York. I think my dad was too. We moved out to LA when I was two or three.”

  
“Why did you choose us, Marisol? You had to have plenty of more traditional couples to choose from.”

  
“Well, you were the only couple Dr. Montgomery could personally vouch for. And sure, the other couples were nice-”

  
“And had dads,” Callie interjects.

  
“Yeah, but I guess my life’s made me think a man’s not that important for a kid.”

  
“Even for a boy?”

  
“Asa’s a better kid than most boys I’ve met that do have papis. I want the baby to have people that love him and siblings to play with, and you guys are all that. And we get along. And it’s kinda nice that he’ll grow up hablando la lengua, y’know?”

  
“Oh yeah. Hablamos la lengua all the time en esta casa. [We speak the language all the time in this house.] Poor Arizona can barely keep up.”

  
“Okay, well, I’ve gotta get some sleep. Same time next week?”

  
“Yeah. Call us if you need anything before then, okay?”

***

 

tbc


	3. Chapter 3

Arizona looks up from her journal article when she hears the slightest creak from the fourth stair from the bottom and sees her oldest padding across the hardwood floors on bare feet, stepping quickly since the March chill still permeates the floor. An old, too small University of Miami Hurricanes shirt stretches across his growing shoulders, and his ratty flannel pants barely make it to the tops of his ankles. Callie says he’s going to be pretty tall, based on the growth plates she saw in his x-rays when he broke his collarbone last summer (falling out of a tree, just like his momma).

  
 Asa slips wordlessly onto the couch beside her, hip pressed to hers, drawing his knees up to his chest. Arizona lifts the throw blanket she’s been cuddling under to cover him, too, and slips an arm around him. He snuggles in, leaning his head against her.

  
“Hey,” she smiles.

  
“Hey,” he counters quietly.

  
“What’s on your mind, my little man?”

  
Asa’s fingers link, and his right thumb traces patterns into his left palm. It’s his thinking gesture.

  
“Nothing.”

  
“No me mientas,” Arizona scolds lightly. [Don’t lie to me.]

  
Asa chuckles and unlinks his fingers, one arm looping around his momma’s.

  
“Mami’s right. You say ‘mientas’ funny.”

  
“Hey now. Be nice.”

  
“Sorry, Momma.” He sighs. “And I’m sorry I fought with Lena after dinner today.”

  
Arizona fights back a laugh at his adorably reluctant contrition, not wanting to discourage such behavior.

  
“I know.”

  
“I just don’t like her touching my stuff. She does it on purpose!”

  
“Of course she does, Asa. She’s a little sister. It’s what she does.”

  
“Ya se.” [I know.]

  
“You just have to rise above it.”

  
“Ya se, Momma.”

  
He seems to have nothing else to say, content to just sit with her for a while, so she doesn’t press him. A few minutes later, he sighs again.

  
“Are we still gonna do this when my brother is here?”

  
Her heart’s gonna burst from all the sweetness, and she resists the urge to pepper his clean face with millions of kisses.

  
“Sit here and listen to your madre chase naked babies?” Arizona questions as the laughter of Calliope wrestling Lena from the bath into bed reaches them from above. Given the intensity of the laughing, she’s now caught her and is proceeding to throw her (gently) onto the bed.

  
Asa nods solemnly.

  
“Of course, Asa. It’ll be busy and crazy when the new baby comes home, but I will always make time to talk with you. You know that right? I love all those thoughts in that big brain of yours.”

  
The eight-year-old looks thoughtful. “Okay. And I guess that my brother could sit with us sometimes, too. If he doesn’t cry.”

  
Arizona laughs. “Okay. Deal.”

  
She waits for the next insight to come spilling out of that too-smart brain. She only has to wait three or four minutes.

  
“Momma?”

  
“Yeah, buddy?”

  
“Is Mami gonna be sad again? When my brother comes.”

  
The sudden squeak and then stop on the very top stair tells her Callie heard that, so she treads carefully.

  
“What do you mean?”

  
“Like when Caroline was little. She was upset. A lot.”

  
“Having a baby is hard work. It cries all the time and you have to change its diapers.”

  
“Yuck. And I remember. With Cari.”

  
Arizona takes a deep breath, trying to find the right words to explain the postpartum anxiety Callie suffered in the wake of her difficult pregnancy with Caroline to her precocious eight-year-old.  
“Right, well, sometimes, when a woman has a baby like your madre did with you three, it makes her so tired that it takes her a little while longer to get back to her usual self. But she did, right?”

  
Asa nods.

  
“Well, Mami’s gonna be much better this time. But we’ll all be really tired ‘cause babies are a lot of work. It would help if you gave tons of hugs and fought less with your sisters.”

  
“I’ll try,” Asa sighs. “Time for bed?”

  
“Yes, indeed. Can you do me a favor first, though?”

  
“Yes, ma’am.”

  
“Run and get me a glass of water? I’m very thirsty.”

  
“Okay.”

  
“Thanks, Asa.”

  
Asa clambers out from under the blanket and makes a mad dash to the kitchen as Callie comes down the stairs all the way. She has a basket of the kids’ laundry to sort and immediately sets to doing it on the other couch, not meeting Arizona’s questioning eyes. She ducks her head, and Arizona can practically sense that her eyes are wet with tears she’s trying valiantly to keep in. Asa returns with her water, and Arizona brings him in for a full body hug. She puts her lips to his ear and whispers:

  
“You need to give your mami an extra big hug and kiss, okay?”

  
Asa nods firmly without question, kissing her cheek.

  
“’Night, Momma, love you.”

  
“Love you, too. Asa. Sweet dreams.”

  
Asa quickly goes to his madre’s side, throwing his arms around her middle. He tilts his face up for a kiss, making a playful grossed out face when Callie drops an overdramatic kiss to his cheek.

  
“Basta, Mami,” [Enough,] he groans, eyes twinkling. “Te quiero.”

  
“Love you, too, Ace. Sleep well.”

  
Asa hurries up the stairs, and Arizona gets up off the couch. She takes Callie’s hand and threads their fingers together.

  
“Sign me up for worst mom of the year.”

  
“Calliope, no.”

  
With her free hand, Arizona takes one of Caroline’s many Disney princess nightgowns from Callie and drops it back in the basket, pulling her away.

  
“Like Asa said, ‘Basta, Mami.’ He was just worried about you. And I promise you that Things Two and Three didn’t even notice. I mean, Thing Three definitely didn’t, and at that point in her life, Thing Two was much more worried about Sesame Street than anything else that was going on. Kids are very self-centered.”

  
“You and Lena read Cat in the Hat this afternoon, didn’t you?” Callie laughs. Arizona’s ability to ramble has sufficiently distracted her from Asa’s question.

  
“Over and over and over... Oh! Did you know that they sell Things One through Four t-shirts? It’s perfect.”

  
“You ordered them, didn’t you?” Callie groans.

  
“Of course. I got Thing Four in onesie size.”

  
  
***  
  
“Alright, Acer! Good eye!” Mark calls, clapping loudly for his godson as the boy takes a second ball in his at-bat. He lowers his voice and directs his next comments to the blonde woman beside him. “He’s getting good.”

  
“Es que somos cubanos,” Lena speaks up from the bleacher row below Mark and Arizona, where she and Grey are still nursing their post-game Gatorade in the dirty purple uniforms of their U7 baseball team.

  
Mark looks to Arizona for a translation.

  
“English, please, Leni,” Arizona says gently, pulling her scarf tighter against the April chill.

  
“Oh, sorry, Uncle Mark. I said it’s ‘cause we’re Cuban,” Lena corrects with a shrug.

  
Mark fights back a laugh at hearing those words from the most WASP-y looking kid he’s ever met.

  
“Right, of course,” Mark shakes his head.

  
The bat cracks, and Asa gets a decent little single, sprinting to first as his supporters cheer him on. For all her grumbling about the cold, Arizona yells and claps the loudest from their bleachers on the third base line. Asa passes a happy, embarrassed smile in their direction as he self-consciously adjusts his batting helmet.

  
“Yay, Asa!”

  
The eight-year-old’s greatest cheerleaders yell, just a little late. Caroline and Susie play with their Barbies next to their older siblings, and only cheer when they notice their families cheering.   
Asa’s teammates eventually bat him in, and they all yell appropriately as he touches home. They can relax, though, as he heads back to the bench.

  
“Only a few weeks left, huh?” Mark broaches the topic always at the edge of their awareness. Arizona is easy to talk to about it, but getting Callie to do so has been like pulling teeth.

  
“Yep! We just finished up the nursery yesterday.”

  
“How’s Marisol feeling?”

  
“Good, when we talked to her on Monday.”

  
“And how’s Cal feeling?”

  
“Ah, yes. The eternal question,” Arizona sighs, rubbing her temples.

  
“Yeah. I haven’t been able to get her to open up at all.”

  
“I think she’s having a hard time believing it’s all real. She’s used to being more attuned to what’s going on. As much as she teases me for being a control freak...”

  
“You are,” he interjects, grinning when she gives him a glare.

  
“Anyway, I think she doesn’t like feeling out of control of this. Especially since she’s just getting some of her anxiety under control. She’s worried she won’t feel the same way about him.”

  
“Which is ridiculous. She’s Cal! She’ll love him with everything she has. It’s the only way she knows how.”

  
“That’s what I said, but she probably won’t believe it until she sees him. Oh! Did you see the latest ultrasound?”

  
Mark chuckles at Arizona’s enthusiasm.

  
“You can see his little fingers! Like he’s waving hello.”

  
“Are you lookin’ at my hermanito?” Caroline demands, inserting herself onto her Uncle Mark’s lap.

  
“We are. Pretty cute, huh?”

  
Caroline wrinkles her nose in distaste. “He looks slimy.”

  
“Slimy!” Arizona objects. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  
Caroline giggles.

  
“Well, that’s surprisingly accurate,” Mark teases.

  
“Uncle Mark,” Caroline sighs. “Is Susie gonna get an hermanito, too?”

  
Arizona laughs at the look of panic that crosses Mark’s face. Caroline and Susie, much like Lena and Grey, are attached at the hip, best friends separated by the three months between their birthdays and little else. What one has, the other immediately expects.

  
“Uh, no. No, Aunt Lexie’s not gonna have any more babies.”

  
“You could get one from someone else,” the three-year-old suggests. “We’re getting ours from Marisol.”

  
Arizona snorts, turning away to hide her laugh as best she can.

  
“A little help here, Robbins?” Mark mutters.

  
“Cari-baby,” Arizona says, barely controlling her laugh. “Aunt Lexie and Uncle Mark have decided their family is just the right size. Families come in all shapes and sizes, remember? Now, did you leave Susie all alone to clean up your Barbies?”

  
Caroline’s eyes widen, and she immediately hops down and scurries back to her friend to avoid a reprimand.

  
“She’s a piece of work,” Mark shakes his head. He points to the phone in her hand. “He’s looking good. So, are you guys, like, on-call, to fly to LA at the drop of a hat?”

  
“Pretty much. Teen moms can go early, so it’s just a waiting game now.”

  
“Well, put us on-call to grab the kids if it’s before the grandma patrol gets here.”

  
“Thanks, will do.”  
  
***  
  
“We won!” Asa exclaims into the phone.

  
Callie laughs at his exuberance, setting down a chart and leaning against the nurse’s station.

  
“Oh, and Lena ‘n’ Grey won, too. Grey wants you to tell his mom. She’s in surgery right now.”

  
“Okay. I’ll tell Aunt Lexie when I see her. Did you score any runs?”

  
“Yes, ma’am.” She can hear him drifting off, distracting by the noise of the car. Callie grins at the image of Arizona and Mark driving around with all five kids in the SUV. She really loves when they spend time together. And often wishes there was a hidden camera. “Momma wants to talk to you. Bye. Te quiero.”

  
“Te quiero, m’ijo,” Callie laughs at his hurry.

  
“Hey, Cal.”

  
“You’re not Momma.”

  
“Excellent powers of observation. We’re having technical difficulties with Sus’s car seat. Robbins pointed out my ineptitude and took over.”

  
“She’s good at that. Especially with you.”

  
“Blondie loves me; she just can’t admit it yet.”

  
There’s a crackle as the phone transfers hands.

  
“Yeah, right.”

  
Callie can hear Arizona’s eye roll over the line.

  
“Hey babe. How are you?”

  
“Frozen, but good. Mark and I are taking the kids for burgers, then we’ll go home and clean up. I promised Teddy we’d stop by and see Baby Nicholas later. I was thinking I’d bring dinner. Remember how crazy those first few months with the first one are?”

  
Callie laughs. “Yeah, we weren’t so good at the multi-tasking then. I get off at seven. I’ll call and see where you are.”

  
“Perfect. Any good surgeries today?”

  
“Couple tib-fibs, nothing fancy. Hey, I’ve got another call beeping through. I’ll call you later.”

  
“Okay. Love you.”

  
“Love you, too.” Callie looks at the unknown number with a frown as she switches over. “Torres.”

  
“Callie? Oh god. I’m sorry. No intenté hacerlo, pero...”

  
“Marisol? Marisol, slow down.”

  
“I got in a big fight with my mami and no pude estar allí and...”

  
“Slow down. Are you okay? Where are you?”

  
“Seattle bus terminal. And I think my water just broke.”  
  
***  
  
“What?!”

  
“OB said she just started. There’s time. Can you come, please?”

  
“I, god, of course, Mark. I’m on my way out the door. But how did she get up there?”

  
“She took the bus. Cal said she got in a huge fight with her mom about giving up the baby, and she just panicked and got on the next bus she could. I didn’t get any other details; they’re both at the hospital with her. Lex and I have the kids for now. Grandparents are on the way, but it’ll be a day or two. Callie asked them to wait so they didn’t overwhelm Marisol.”

  
“Well, at least he’ll be born at Seattle Grace like his siblings,” Addison laughs, still in shock, throwing a few essentials into her suitcase with a shake of her head.

  
“There’s that. You need me to get someone to pick you up at the airport?”

  
“No, no. I’ll take a cab. Easier that way.”

  
“Okay. Thanks, Addy. I know they really appreciate it.”

  
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”  
  


***

tbc


	4. Chapter 4

The contractions progress slowly and steadily until they stall at five hours in. Addy is an hour or so out, but their local OB assures them it’s a natural pause, and the baby is perfectly healthy. She encourages them to take advantage and rest up.

  
Arizona steps out to call and check on the kids.

  
“Marisol, you really need to call your mom.”

  
“No.”

  
“I know you had a fight, but it’s scary. I know. You shouldn’t have to do it without her. If my girls, in the far, far, far future, were going through this without me...”

  
“No. She’ll try to take him. She said she doesn’t want her nieto raised by two...”

  
“Lesbians?”

  
Marisol grimaces. “Not the word she used. She says he’ll go hell.”

  
“Pretty sure having two moms isn’t the sin,” Callie jokes, brushing her hands through her hair nervously. “She can’t, you know? It’s your decision. As long as you’re still sure...”

  
“I am,” Marisol interjects forcefully. “I don’t want to raise this baby; I want you and Arizona to.” Her breath catches and her eyes get wet. “You don’t understand. No one’s ever loved me the way you love your kids. The way you’ll love him. I want him to have that. To... be loved, like that.”

  
“Your mother loves you.”

  
“Yeah, but she also resents me. And I never want him to be resented. She wasn’t much older than I am now, and my dad didn’t stick around past the first diaper change. And she seems to think being raised by two women is worse than being raised by one and her endless stream of boyfriends.”

  
Marisol grimaces again, this time in pain. Callie takes her hand.

  
“How long did it take you? With the older kids?”

  
“It’s all a blur, but I’m told fourteen with Asa, eleven with Lena, and ten with Caroline. I think. The first is always the longest.”

  
“Great.” She squeezes Callie’s hand, fighting down the fear and searching for another topic. “Arizona said you decided on a first name.”

  
“We did.”

  
“What is it?”

  
“It’s a surprise.”

  
“Even from me?”

  
“Yep. That’s how we do it. Have to make sure it fits.”

  
“Still fighting over the middle name?”

  
“Yeah,” Callie laughs. “We’ve never had this much trouble, but we used all the grandparents with the other three. And Arizona is being stubborn.”

  
“I’m not stubborn; I’m opinionated.”

  
“Same thing,” Callie greets her wife with a soft smile.

  
Arizona sits down beside Callie, squeezing her thigh reassuringly. She can see how anxious Callie is and remembers that she’s never been on this side of it.

  
“Well, I’m almost always right, so we’ll see. The kids are good. Mark took Lena and Grey to see Teddy, but the other kids weren’t interested.”

  
“I thought that might happen. I could sense a major pout in Lena when you told her she wasn’t going to see Aunt Teddy. And the baby.”

  
“But mostly Aunt Teddy,” Arizona laughs. She turns to Marisol. “Teddy is Lena’s madrina. She’s very attached. Teddy just adopted a little boy of her own. Nicholas.”

  
“A playmate for the baby,” Callie smiles.

  
“And we didn’t even plan it that way,” Arizona adds.

  
“Callie gets more serious. Are you sure we can’t call your mom? So she can know. And you can talk to her.”

  
“No, please. I’m fine. I’ll call her when he’s here. I promise.”

  
“Okay. I’ll stop nagging.”

  
“You’re a mom; it’s what you do.”  
  
***  
  
They’re all relieved to see Addison when she arrives, and the contractions start again in earnest.

  
Callie is awe, watching Arizona coach Marisol through it all. She’s never actually seen her wife talk someone through labor before, just been on the receiving end, and Arizona is simply amazing at it. She keeps her voice gentle but insistent, one hand offered for squeezing, the other tenderly soothing Marisol’s brow. Callie is grateful for her, all over again, and only her anxiousness over their son’s birth keeps her from kissing her, hard, then and there.

  
Later, Addison and Arizona will remind her that never stopped her when she was the one in labor.

  
“You’re doing great, Marisol,” Arizona says softly, evenly, as Marisol sobs into another contraction.

  
Callie’s hips twinge sympathetically. Labor is a terrifying, horrifying, terribly painful experience, and she can’t imagine doing it all alone at sixteen.

  
“I can’t. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”

  
“You can, and you are, sweetie,” Addison encourages. “We’re almost there.”

  
“Squeeze Calliope’s hand as hard as you have to. She breaks bones for a living; you can’t hurt her,” Arizona soothes.

  
Callie takes that as her cue to stop musing and start helping. She squeezes Marisol’s hand in acknowledgment.

  
“I know it feels like you can’t do it. I know. I’ve been there. But you can. You have to. Because there’s no other choice. Just, step into the pain. Use it, and then it will be over. It’ll be over, and the pain will be gone.”

  
Arizona smiles and nods encouragingly.

  
“Trust her on that. She’s a rock star at having babies.”  
  
***  
  
They agreed beforehand that Arizona would be the first to hold him, just as she had with Asa, Lena, and Caroline. Callie had peppered her with questions about what it was like, that first moment holding a baby she’d previously felt a little distant to. But she still doesn’t feel ready when their baby boy comes screaming into the world, with that same exact newborn wail his siblings all cried, angry at being shoved into the world.

  
Addison quickly wraps him up and deposits him in Arizona’s eagerly awaiting arms.

  
“Hey bubba,” Arizona coos, teary-eyes and super-magic smiled. “Hey, I’m your Momma. We’ve spoken on the phone.”

  
Callie laughs (or is it sobbed?), surprised at the tears already flowing from her eyes.

  
“He’s perfect,” Arizona meets her wife’s eyes. “Absolutely perfect.”

  
Callie takes a step closer, and Arizona moves to lay the baby in her arms.

  
“This is your mami,” Arizona introduces as Callie cradles the newborn close. “She’s been very nervous about meeting you.”

  
“Hola, m’ijo,” Callie says softly, looking down at his blotchy skin and squinty eyes. And she gets it. Everything Arizona ever said about this moment is true. He’s hers; she can feel it. “Bienvenido.”

  
“See,” Arizona whispers, wrapping her arms around the two of them, chin on Callie’s shoulder. “No need to be nervous.”

  
Callie turns and kisses her sweetly.

  
“You were right,” Callie sighs against her lips.

  
“And?” Arizona asks as Callie drops her forehead gently onto hers.

  
“And awesome.”

  
“Never forget it.”

  
Arizona pulls away and nods towards Marisol. Callie nods in agreement.

  
“He’s beautiful, Marisol. Do you wanna see him?”

  
The girl nods tearfully as Callie sets him on her chest.

  
“H-hi,” she stutters through her shuddering breaths. The baby kicks and flails, but his screaming has quieted to whimpers.

  
“See? You did great,” Arizona says sweetly, wiping her own eyes as Marisol continues to sob. “It’s all over.”

  
“We’ve gotta get him to the nursery for a bit. We’ll bring him right back,” the nurse says gently, looking for approval from Drs. Torres and Robbins.

  
“They just have to weigh him and stuff,” Callie clarifies as the nurse scoops up their newborn son. She feels a pang of separation anxiety she’d always been too exhausted and in shock to feel before. Arizona squeezes her elbow. Callie turns wide eyes to her. “Go with him? Please. I don’t want him to be alone.”

  
“Okay,” Arizona nods understandingly. “You can come, too.”

  
“I want to stay with Marisol.”

  
“Alright, I’ll be with him. We’ll be back soon.”

  
She kisses Callie’s cheek and takes the baby from the nurse, walking him to the nursery.  
  
***  
  
Marisol delivers the placenta with no complications. Addison hugs her and prescribes lots of rest, leaving her and Callie alone under the pretense of going to check on the baby, promising to check in soon.

  
Marisol has yet to stop sobbing, and that makes a ball of dread pool in Callie’s stomach. She knows it could be just the exhaustion and hormones, but Marisol does have a small window to change her mind, and now that she’s fallen in love, she knows that would devastate her.

  
“Marisol. ¿Qué pasa?” she starts gently, soothing hand on her shoulder.

  
“It’s over,” the girl gulps. “I’m not ready.”

  
“Not ready for what, querida?”

  
The endearment only makes her cry more.

  
“For it, to be over,” Marisol hiccups.

  
Callie freezes. “Don’t make any rash decisions. You have time.”

  
“No, no. I’m ready to give him up. But not you. Not your family. I don’t want to go back there. I know you only wanted me for him, but it’s the most wanted I’ve ever felt. I’m not ready to lose that.”  
“Marisol,” Callie’s heart breaks.

  
“Lo siento. No quiero ser esta chica.”

  
“Basta,” Callie says softly, wiping the girl’s tears. “It’s okay. You have to go back, because no matter what you think, your mami loves you, and she’ll miss you. There’s nothing my kids could do, not ever, no level of angry they could make me, that would make me stop loving them. It’s been my experience that even when parents are mad, angry, disappointed, they’re really just scared. Scared of losing their little girl. She needs you to come back. But you’ll never lose us. It won’t be the same, of course. For one, our kid won’t be kicking you in the bladder. We’ll always be here for you, though. Because we’re always going to be linked by him. Because you’ve given us the most amazing gift.”

  
“Really?”

  
Marisol’s sobs have slowed during Callie’s speech (which she thinks Arizona would be proud of).

  
“As Lena would say, ‘Claro’.”

  
Marisol gives a watery laugh. “She does say that a lot.”

  
“I know, right? A total dork. That’s what I get for having a dork’s babies.”

  
Marisol bites her lips, eyes glassy with exhaustion. “Did you know? When you first met Arizona, did you know she was the one? I want that some day, and I wanna know when I’ll know.”

  
Callie laughs a little, thinking about her amazing wife.

  
“Yeah. I think I did. I was so scared, though. It took me forever to admit it to myself. It wasn’t until I saw her at her worst, and I loved her anyway, that I allowed myself to really see it. So, don’t worry too much about when you’ll know. You just will.”

  
“Okay.”

  
“Okay. Can we call your mom now? We can get her on the next plane up.”

  
“Yes, please.”  
  
***  
  
One of the perks of being world class surgeons is cajoling the OB nurses into giving them their own room so that they can give Marisol and her mother some space, and have a place where all their friends and family can come and meet Mateo Oliver Robbins-Torres.

  
Since little Teo was born after midnight, he has to spend twenty-four hours in the hospital, he won’t be releases until the next morning. They decided, then, to have Robbins-Torres family sleep over in the hospital room. The kids had been overjoyed to meet their new baby brother (Asa especially, Caroline less so) and eventually fell asleep three to a hospital bed watching one of the movies Arizona stole from Peds.

  
Callie and Arizona are cuddles in the tilted back oversized recliner, Teo wedged between them.

  
“I kinda like being with him when he’s this little without feeling like my body’s been ripped apart and sewn back together,” Callie whispers.

  
“I like being able to hold you so soon after,” Arizona smiles warmly, brushing hair behind Callie’s ear and leaving her hand to cradle her cheek. “And that once we get home, and can find a spare moment, I can make love to you as soon as possible.”

  
“Oh, so, in ten years?” Callie grins, closing her eyes and breathing in the mixture of Teo and Arizona.

  
“Dear god, I hope not.”

  
“Me, too. Mm, those three terrors are lucky we did it this way last,” Callie teases, peeking one eye open.

  
Arizona pokes her in the ribs. “Don’t say that. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

  
Teo is alert but miraculously not crying as Callie draws soft circles onto his chest.

  
“I guess you’re right,” Callie yawns.

  
“Don’t fall asleep. You’ll squish the baby,” Arizona sings playfully.

  
“Nah, I know you’re gonna stay awake anyway, baby hog.”

  
“True. Don’t worry, Teo. I won’t let Mami squish you, I promise. She’s a good Mami, even if she gave you your middle name after a talking cat and made your initials spell MORT.”

  
“Hush. I won rock, paper, scissors, fair and square. Oliver’s a great name.”

  
“For a nineteenth century orphan. Which is distasteful.”

  
“It is not. Teo’s not an orphan. He’s got more moms than he knows what to do with. Besides, it’s better than Bradley. That’s such a WASPy name.”

  
“So is Oliver!”

  
“Shh, you’ll wake the hellions. You just hate losing.”

  
“Whatever.”

  
“Stop pouting and kiss me before I fall asleep.”

  
“Oh, alright.”  
  
***  
  


tbc


	5. Chapter 5

True to Callie’s prediction, Arizona stays up with Teo for the whole night. She’s never been able to sleep for the first forty-eight hours after the kids are born, even though she’s physically exhausted. She’s just so excited, and she doesn’t want to miss a second of Teo’s brand new life, even if it means she’ll never sleep again.

  
Eventually, she climbs out of the warm cocoon of the recliner to save Teo from his adorably zonked madre. He drifts in and out of sleep, but he also seems just as inclined to see every moment of his life outside the womb. She’s particularly proud of the fact that she gave him a midnight and three am bottle without waking any of his older siblings, or even Callie.

  
The night is actually quite eventful, at least in spurts. All of the peds (and OB) night shift nurses wander in to catch a glimpse of him and (very quietly) coo and coddle over him. Her star pupil and (Callie accuses, Arizona denies) work husband Alex Karev even comes by, having been called in earlier in the long night for an emergency surgery. Karev gives his “I’m too tough to smile” smile and hands over a sad little “It’s a Boy!” gift shop teddy bear, dissolving into a real, honest grin when Arizona allows him to hold the newborn.

  
“You and Torres make pretty babies even when you’re not making ‘em,” he gruffs.

  
She smiles her thanks, maybe a little sadly. He would be a good father, she thinks, but he thinks his window passed him by and he’s resigned himself to never having it.

  
But that’s all in the middle of the night. As the night gives way to dawn, it’s just her and Teo, all alone with their snoring family in a tiny hospital room.

  
An overly catchy Disney song from the previous night’s showing of The Jungle Book plays in her head as she rocks him and he sucks on his six am bottle.

  
“Oo, ee, oo, I wanna be like you,” Arizona sings, for Teo’s ears only. His eyes peek open speciously. “I wanna walk like you, talk like you.”

  
Since she’s holding him tight, he’s not swaddled, the blanket just laid over him to ward off the hospital chill. Accordingly, his tiny feet kick against her hand, starting when she sings and stopping when she stops.

  
“You see it’s true,” Arizona tries again, her grin growing wide. She shuffles over to where Callie’s sleeping and kicks her foot gently but insistently.

  
“Whaa? Go t’ sleep, baby.”

  
“It’s morning, Calliope,” Arizona laughs.

  
“No.”

  
“It is.”

  
“But we haven’t...” A giant yawn overtakes Callie as she stretches out. “Fed Mateo yet...”

  
“Correction, you haven’t. I have. He’s pretended to have three bottles all night, including this one. You know how at first they just try to figure it out?”

  
“You stayed up.”

  
“I did! And watch this. Sing him a song.”

  
“Arizona...” Callie grabs Arizona’s hips and pulls them over to her lap, checking her watch. “It’s six am. Why are we singing?”

  
“Just sing him something and watch him,” Arizona insists, fidgeting as she balances herself in Callie’s lap while trying not to interrupt Teo’s bottle time.

  
“I don’t know what to sing him,” Callie groans, frustrated. “I need coffee. Ooh. Not breastfeeding. That means I can have lots of coffee.”

  
“Fine. Just watch.” Arizona pulls the blanket aside and starts to sing the song again. “You see it’s true.”

  
“Seriously? I married a five year old.”

  
 Arizona ignores her and keeps singing, Teo’s feet moving when her voice does, resting when she’s silent.

  
“Someone like me, can learn to be, like someone like you...”

  
Callie laughs when she finally notices the movement.

  
“Aw. Look at his tiny little dancing legs.”

  
Arizona puts her lips onto the soft, soft baby skin of Teo’s exposed neck and covers up his little feet again.

  
Callie continues, “Well, he’s either dancing or trying to say ‘Momma, stop singing!’ in newborn.”

  
“Oh, haha. Very funny,” Arizona grins.

  
Callie drops a kiss onto Arizona’s shoulder, then rests her chin there, her arms slipping over hers so that they’re both holding baby Mateo.

  
“It feels right,” Callie whispers, looking down at the half-heartedly nursing little one. “I didn’t think it would feel so right so soon.”

  
“Do you think he’ll notice he’s adopted?” Arizona teases.

  
Barely over twenty-four hours old, Teo’s skin is still very pale, but they imagine that it will darken to a pretty shade of milk chocolate like Marisol’s.

  
 “No. He’ll never guess,” Callie laughs, stroking Teo’s brow.

  
She drops another kiss, this one at the collar of Arizona’s soft cotton shirt. Then another, behind her ear.

  
There’s a rustling from the hospital bed as Asa slides out from the tangle of his sisters’ limbs.

  
“Morning,” he grumbles, slipping off and shivering a little when his feet hit the cold tile. He scratches at his fuzzy head.

  
“Good morning, little man. Sleep well?” Arizona asks.

  
Asa shakes his right hand out and yawns. “I think Leni slept on my hand.”

  
Arizona grins widely at his sleepy little boy cuteness. Callie disentangles her arms from Arizona’s and holds out a hand for him to take. With skilled fingers, she starts to massage the blood flow back into the offended appendage. As Arizona shifts over to one side of the recliner with Teo, Callie tugs Asa into her lap, enjoying the early morning when he’s the most vulnerable to cuddling. Asa nestles his head back onto Callie’s shoulder and sighs, eyes on Teo.

  
“Thanks for the brother.”  
  
***  
  
Marisol is gingerly packing up her things when a knock at her door breaks the peaceful quiet. She turns to see Arizona in the doorway, and her breath catches when she realizes Baby Teo is cradled in her arms.

  
“My mom is doing the paperwork. I’m going home soon.”

  
“So are we,” Arizona says gently. “Did you want to say goodbye? For now.”

  
Marisol nods mutely.

  
They’ve worked out the details of the adoption agreement: Marisol’s still on the fence about how involved she’s wants to be, but she’s going to have one visit a year and any other reasonable contact (birthday and Christmas phone calls, etc) if she wants it. It’s an awkward, delicate territory, they know, but at the end of the day there can never be too many people that love Mateo in his life.

  
“I think Asa and the girls would like to say goodbye, too, if you’re up for it,” Arizona says, laying the swaddled newborn tenderly into Marisol’s lightly shaking arms.

  
“Yeah, I think that would be good.”

  
“Good. Callie’ll bring them in.”

  
Marisol looks to the infant in her arms and ponders what exactly she feels. She should feel some sort of grief, she thinks, but as much as his sweet face tugs on her heart strings, all she feels now, after hours of uninterrupted sleep, is relief. She’ll miss him, of course, but she’ll miss all of the Robbins-Torres family, and she thinks of Mateo as one of them now.

  
Their quiet is broken as said Robbins-Torres family pours in.

  
“Momma, Uncle Mark says we have to go home today, ‘cause Merryweather tried to bite him this morning,” Lena immediately informs.

  
Asa snickers at the image, as does Marisol, who met the three chickens (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) via Skype a few weeks ago.

  
“Uncle Mark needs to toughen up.”

  
“Maybe Merry just recognized a fox in the hen house,” Callie teases, tickling at the ribs of the three year-old in her arms. Caroline giggles.

  
Teo begins to fuss then, and Marisol immediately looks to hand him back to one of his mothers. Arizona steps forward to take him, rocking him soothingly.

  
“Hermanito, no te llores,” [Don’t cry,] Asa insists sweetly. “Is he hungry, Momma?”

  
“Maybe a little. You can give him a bottle before we head out.”

  
Asa nods once, pleased with the answer.

  
“Guys, Marisol is heading home soon. Do you wanna say your goodbyes?” Arizona asks.

  
Asa comes in for a gentle but awkward little boy hug.

  
“Bye.”

  
“Goodbye, Asa.”

  
“Buh-bye,” Caroline waves from Callie’s hip. She’s still young and wary of this somewhat stranger she’s only ever seen on a screen and who somehow brought them that noisy, smelly baby.  
Lena then lunges forward, grabbing Marisol around the still-sore middle.

  
“Bye. Gracias por nuestro hermanito,” she says, voice muffled. [Thanks for our little brother.]

  
Marisol fights back the lump in her throat at the unexpected outburst and strokes Lena’s soft blonde curls.

  
“De nada, Lena-nena. Cuídalo bien.” [You’re welcome, Lena-baby. Take good care of him.]

  
Lena laughs. “My abuelita calls me Lena-nena, ‘cause it rhymes.”

  
“It does.”

  
“We’ll take care of him. Promise,” Lena says.

  
Asa nods earnestly to back her up. Caroline is less interested, squirming to get down.

  
Callie sets the dark haired toddler on the ground and moves to embrace Marisol. Their words were all said in the delivery room, so each of them simply tries to put all of their gratitude into the hug. Then Callie takes Teo from Arizona, who also hugs Marisol.

  
“Take care of yourself,” Arizona says warmly. “Call us if you need us.”

  
“I will,” Marisol nods firmly.

  
“Troops,” Arizona then turns to the three older children. “Let’s head out. We have bags to pack and a room to clean.”

  
Callie rolls her eyes as the four jokingly march out with a chorus of “Bye!”s.

  
“Here. He’s settled down. Say your goodbyes,” Callie says gently when they’re alone with Mateo. She lays the boy in Marisol’s arms. “I’ll be right outside the door.”

  
“Hola, nene,” Marisol says softly. “Guess it’s gonna be weird not hearing my voice every day. Plenty of voices to keep you company, though. Be a good boy and listen to your mamis. They know what’s best. You’re lucky, Teo. I’ll always love you, but they can give you everything you need, with love to spare. So, I guess I’ll see you around.”

  
She drops a kiss to his smooth forehead and feels way too grown up as she pulls open the door, just a little teary.

  
Callie smiles sweetly as she takes Mateo back from her. “We’ll be in touch.”

  
Dr. Montgomery is waiting with her, taking a step forward as Callie takes one back. Addison puts a warm arm around Marisol.

  
“Alright. I better go see if they’re all ready,” Callie says, keeping eye contact.

  
“Okay. Bye.”

  
Callie smiles bittersweetly and holds Teo close. “Bye.”

  
Marisol thinks the tears she sheds into Dr. Montgomery’s shoulder as Callie walks away are as much of relief as they are of sadness.

  
  
***  
  
“Everything go okay?” Arizona asks, meeting Callie at the doorway.

  
Over her wife’s shoulder, Callie can see Asa ready and waiting with a bottle.

  
“As well as it could,” Callie says honestly.

  
Arizona nods, taking and squeezing her hand. “How about we give him a bottle and then head home?”

  
“I’d love that,” Callie sighs. “What do you say, Teo?” Then she catches a glimpse of each of the older children’s bright red t-shirts. “Oh my god. What are they wearing?”

  
“Teo’s got one, too!” Lena exclaims, holding up a matching Thing Four onesie.

  
“Arizona, you didn’t.”

  
“Oh, I so did.”

  
“You know this is only going to encourage Yang to refer to them by number instead of name.”

  
“That’s alright. Right, Thing Two?”

  
“Yep!” Lena agrees with her momma brightly, still excitedly displaying the shirt for her baby brother.

  
Callie moves to supervise Asa feeding Teo his bottle, Lena close at her heels. Arizona surveys the room to see if all the packing has been done. She sees her pensive three-year-old, green blankie in hand, lingering at the edges of the action. Her big brown eyes study everyone’s movements with half-interest, half-wariness.

  
“Doing okay there, Care-bear?” Arizona asks her softly, squatting to her level. She groans inwardly at her unconscious use of Mark Sloan’s nickname for the toddler. Cari’s hand, blankie and all, grabs a hold of Arizona’s shoulder as she nods. “It’s alright. You’ll get used to him. Maybe even like him, when he’s a little bigger. You’ll love being a big sister.”

  
“He’s so loud,” Caroline complains, her straight bangs falling in her eyes. Arizona brushes them away.

  
“Not right now, he’s not. Want to get a better look? Asa’s giving him a bottle, so he’ll be nice and quiet.”

  
Arizona raises her arms in an offer to pick the girl up, which she happily accepts, holding tight to her momma’s neck. She groans, outwardly this time, as she pushes herself up to stand.

  
“Goodness you’re getting big, Caroline.”

  
She carries the toddler over to the recliner, where Asa is tucked in deep, pillow on his lap where Teo lays, Callie hovering close by. Lena has clambered up one arm of the chair, intently watching the baby suckle. Arizona sighs, resting her head on Caroline’s.

  
She’s ready to take her family home.  
  
***  
  
Arizona escapes the craziness of downstairs, with the three hyperactive kids and their four indulgent grandparents, and slips into the nursery where Callie has been holed up with Teo for about half an hour now.

  
“Is he giving you trouble or are you hiding?” Arizona asks, leaning in the doorway, a contented smile spreading across her face as she watches Callie and Teo in the rocking chair.

  
“Hiding, clearly,” Callie grins, looking up. Her hair, dark, curly, and just the slightest bit unkempt, falls in her eyes. At the sight, Arizona wonders how many times somebody can fall in love with someone without falling out of love in between. She thinks she might do it about once every other day.

  
“They’re playing seven person Go Fish. I’m afraid Lena and your father may come to blows over that last three of spades.”

  
Callie laughs. “They’re both very stubborn.”

  
The room lapses back into a comfortable silence as Arizona makes no signs of moving out of the small sliver of light in the doorway, happily propping herself up against its frame to watch these two together. Callie begins humming a little eighties power ballad in Teo’s ear softly, almost unconsciously. Arizona watches with delight as Teo’s feet begin to bounce along with the song. As a pediatrician, she knows there’s no scientific way that he’s actually dancing, but the mother in her wants to believe he is.

  
“Hold me closer, tiny dancer,” Arizona laughs softly.

  
“Really?” Callie rolls her eyes.

  
“You keep saying that like you’re surprised at the things I do.”

  
“I am. You continue to surprise me, in wonderful ways, every day.”

  
“Aw, Calliope, that was romantic.”

  
Callie grins sloppily. “As a reward, will you refrain from singing Elton John to our newborn?”

  
“I don’t like breaking my promises to you,” Arizona shakes her head. “Let’s not set me up to fail. I will, however, suggest you lay him down in his crib. When he wakes up in three or four hours, we’ll move him down to the bassinet in our room.”

  
“And what are we going to do for those three to four hours?”

  
“Well, there are quite a lot of obstacles between us and our bedroom, but I think we might be able to make it into the hall closet unnoticed.”

  
“Dr. Robbins, are you propositioning me?”

  
“Duh,” Arizona grins.

  
“And in a closet, no less. I feel like an intern.”

  
Pushing off the door, Arizona comes to gently take Mateo from Callie’s arms. He’s half asleep already, and she moves to lay him in his crib.

  
“Are you accepting?”

  
“I could be swayed.”

  
“Come into the linen closet and I’ll make it worth your while.” More serious, she focuses on Teo, running a finger down the slope of his tiny little nose. She sings: “Blue jean baby...”

  
“Stop it.”

  
“LA lady...”

  
“Arizona, I’m serious.”

  
“Seamstress for the band...”

  
“Is this really necessary...”

  
“Pretty eyed, pirate smile. Married a music man.”

  
“Okay, I guess it is.”

  
“Goodnight, our Tiny Dancer. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

  
“Oh, god. That’s gonna stick.”

  
Arizona laughs and extends a hand, which Callie takes willingly.

  
“How about that closet?”

  
***  
el fin


End file.
